


We Three

by Thistlerose



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Friendship, Future OT3, Missing Scene, Multi, Temporarily Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-11 05:33:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5615725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thistlerose/pseuds/Thistlerose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Poe and Rey are bonded by a mutual desire to protect Finn, and Poe almost gets his jacket back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Three

_Time is the key that will unlock the destiny  
of we three_ \- Patti Smith

Poe would have stayed by Finn's side, but Snap and Jess snuck up behind him, seized him by the arms, and, disregarding his loud protests, hauled him bodily from the room, insisting that he needed a shower and some food. BB-8 followed close behind, practically head-butting him in the shins to keep him moving. Poe would have fought them off - or tried, anyway - but Jess informed him that they were under orders from the General, so he reluctantly submitted.

An hour later, clean, fed, and wearing fresh clothes, he was on his way back to the medical wing. In his haste, he didn't see the girl until he nearly collided with her. She was standing in the doorway to Finn's room, her head bowed, her slim shoulders hunched. And - he realized with a jolt that rattled his bones - she was clutching Poe's jacket to her chest.

He almost didn't recognize it. It had been dirty the last time he'd seen it: on Finn, when they met again on Takodana. Now it was scorched, torn, and spattered with rust-colored stains that could only be blood. _Whose_? Poe wondered in a daze. Finn's, most likely, but some of them might well have been his own. And maybe the girl's; she wore clean clothes, and her hair looked as if it had been combed if not washed, but she was still pretty beat up.

"Hey," Poe said softly.

The girl slid him a glance, then looked back at Finn, who lay motionless on his hospital bed.

"Any change?" he asked.

She shook her head, and for a second, Poe had an urge to put his arms around her. She seemed so alone and, well, definitely not _helpless_ , but … somehow lost. Instead, he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe. After a minute he said, "He'll be all right."

"How do you know?"

"Finn's a survivor. He walked away from a TIE-fighter crash. He survived the attack on Takodana. He'll pull through."

She looked at him again, with a little more curiosity. "How do you…?" He saw her fingers tighten around the folds of the jacket and understanding brightened her eyes. "You're the Resistance pilot that Finn helped escape. You're BB-8's master. This is yours." It wasn't a question.

"It's his," said Poe. He shrugged. "Looks better on him anyway."

Her eyes narrowed, and he wondered if she was trying to decide for herself if that was really true. Or maybe she thought there was some hidden meaning in his words. For all he knew, there was. Considering how little time Poe had actually spent with Finn, he liked him a lot. Finn had rescued him, fought with him, completed his mission when he'd been too injured to go on. He'd thought about Finn a lot as he'd made his circuitous way back to the Resistance, worried about him a great deal. A former stormtrooper with a good heart, but no clue whatsoever… Finding him alive on Takodana…

_Maybe,_ he thought, shifting his gaze back to Finn. It struck him that he hadn't had the chance to just _look_ at him since they'd first met on the _Finalizer_ , to really study the face of the man who'd saved his life. He'd noticed before that Finn was handsome, but he'd missed the way his short black lashes curled, and the way his soft lips curved even as he lay there unconscious. Maybe it was a little unfair, ogling a man who was completely unaware of his presence. But in wartime, Poe told himself, you took the opportunities you got. He'd lost enough friends fighting the First Order to know that.

_Maybe…_

The girl said, "We shared it on the Starkiller Base. It was cold, so we traded it back and forth. I'm Rey, by the way."

"Poe Dameron."

"I know. BB-8 and Finn talked about you."

"Oh? What did they say?"

"Only good things," she assured him with a wry smile. "They thought you were dead. It's nice to finally meet you."

"And you," said Poe. Then, in a lighter tone, to try and keep that little smile of hers burning, he added: "You're the reason Finn went haring off to the Starkiller Base." He wasn't jealous. Really. Only rather impressed, and maybe - _maybe_ \- something else. It was an emotion he couldn't quite name. "What d'you think, is there something about us that inspires the guy to heroics? Or is that just how he is?"

"That's just how he is." Rey's lips folded in a frown. "I have to go."

Well, that hadn't gone right. "No, you don't. If you want to be alone with him, I'll go--"

"No." She shook her head. "You don't understand. I'm leaving with Chewbacca and R2-D2. We're going to try to find Luke Skywalker. I only came here to say goodbye, and to make sure…" She held the jacket up to her face and inhaled deeply for a long moment. Then she turned to Poe and grabbed his hand. "Give this back to him," she said, folding his fingers around the battered leather. _And take care of him._ The instruction shone in her eyes; there was no need for her to say it out loud.

"I will," he said. "I promise." He should have said something more: _Good luck. Be careful. You know that if anything happens to you, he'll go flying across the galaxy to save you. And I'll probably go flying right after him._ But she had already turned away from him and was walking slowly toward Finn's bedside. So he started to leave.

With one foot out the doorway, Poe stopped and looked back over his shoulder. Rey was bent over Finn, her small hand resting on the pillow by his cheek. In a moment she would touch him. And he wasn't jealous, Poe told himself again. Just… He felt the pinch of that unnamed emotion, and finally knew what it was. He was _wistful._ He wanted to go back in there, put his arms around the two of them, and just hold them protectively. He wasn't sure why. All he knew at that moment was that the three of them were somehow bound together, and that he and Finn would see Rey again.

In the meantime, he thought, looking down at the jacket, regardless of his personal feelings, he'd look out for Finn, make sure he stayed safe. He'd made a promise.

1/2/2016


End file.
